Abbott to announce $1B in additional FEMA funds for Hurricane Harvey

FILE - In this Aug. 28, 2017, file photo, rescue boats float on a flooded street as people are evacuated from rising floodwaters brought on by Tropical Storm Harvey in Houston. The National Hurricane CenterÂs official report on Harvey compiles staggering numbers, starting with 68 dead and $125 billion in damage. But the really big numbers in the Thursday, Jan. 25, 2018, tally have to do with the rainfall that swamped Houston. Two places had more than five feet of rain. Eighteen different parts of Texas logged more than four feet of rain. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File) less

FILE - In this Aug. 28, 2017, file photo, rescue boats float on a flooded street as people are evacuated from rising floodwaters brought on by Tropical Storm Harvey in Houston. The National Hurricane ... more

Photo: David J. Phillip, STF

Photo: David J. Phillip, STF

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FILE - In this Aug. 28, 2017, file photo, rescue boats float on a flooded street as people are evacuated from rising floodwaters brought on by Tropical Storm Harvey in Houston. The National Hurricane CenterÂs official report on Harvey compiles staggering numbers, starting with 68 dead and $125 billion in damage. But the really big numbers in the Thursday, Jan. 25, 2018, tally have to do with the rainfall that swamped Houston. Two places had more than five feet of rain. Eighteen different parts of Texas logged more than four feet of rain. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File) less

FILE - In this Aug. 28, 2017, file photo, rescue boats float on a flooded street as people are evacuated from rising floodwaters brought on by Tropical Storm Harvey in Houston. The National Hurricane ... more

Sharon Galavitz is watching her property along the Brazos River disappear

Media: Mark Mulligan, Houston Chronicle

Cities and county governments are being encouraged to submit projects and claims as soon as possible, as the final FEMA dollars will be "locked in" at the 12-month anniversary of Harvey, which hit the state last August.

The size of the federal disaster funds is larger than the "hundreds of millions" of dollars that the governor's office had said would be available earlier.

The money is separate from the nearly $90 billion Congress approved last week for disaster recovery in Texas and other states ravaged by disasters like hurricanes and wild fires. Although most of the $90 billion is for recovery, some is intended for the Army Corps of Engineers to use for further flood mitigation in the Houston area, such as improving reservoirs and widening bayous.

Abbott is scheduled to announce specifics of the new funding program in Rockport and again in Houston on Tuesday. The Federal Emergency Management Agency is making the money available to offer help mitigating future disasters in the wake of a catastrophe.

The funding comes as federal, state and local leaders begin to coalesce around several ideas to help mitigate future flooding in the Houston area, although major changes likely won't take hold before this year's hurricane season.